Arsene Wenger has revealed that Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla are running again after months out with ankle and knee injuries respectively.
The midfield duo are now expected to be back in action in March, hopefully enough time for each man to get up to speed and showcase their respective talent ahead of EURO 2016.
“They are back running,” confirmed Wenger on Thursday. “They are on a fitness programme now so it means it is not a question of months anymore, it is a question of weeks for them to be back.”
The boss also gave an update on Danny Welbeck, who continued his comeback from a long-term knee problem with a run out for the under-21s last week, hinting at a return in the FA Cup in ten days time.
“He is doing well, it is a bit early for him maybe but he is now back to full power in training. It is a big possibility [he could be involved against Hull next week].
“We gave him one or two days recovery after the under-21 game, but now he is back in full training. He has worked very hard and he is fit.”
There was also an update on the fitness of the rest of the squad ahead of Sunday’s game with Leicester.
“It is a similar squad available to last week, we are still early in the week but we should have everyone available.
“Of course Rosicky [is out], and Wilshere is not ready. But everyone else should be available.”
Good news, hopefully they can all play a part in our charge to the treble.
With the depth we have in our squad, players seen to be returning quickly. I know The Shad Effect is part of it.
I will be happy with just the PL title. Anything else will be a bonus.
That is brilliant, having Santi back for the last 10 or so league games will be huge! We miss him so, so badly.
I miss the little munchkin. Our team plays with less joy without him
If we can just get to March, still in touch, with Wilshere, Welbeck, Cazorla, Coquelin and Sanchez returning to the side (I’m counting the last two as they’re still finding their feet), I really think we’ll do it. We have the best fucking squad in the league and play the best football too.
Yep. If we’re still in touch after Spurs (March 5th), we should have a very good chance at winning.
I’ve always loved Santi, but never realised quite how much until this injury robbed us of him. It’s fantastic news that he’s nearing a return – and it gives me renewed confidence for the title. The display by Santi away to Man Shitty last season is possibly my favourite ever individual performance by an Arsenal player. THE MAN’S A GOD!
I wholeheartedly agree. Too have both Santi and jack back playing the football we love under the spring sunshine on our magnificent pitch is heaven two folds!!!!
There’s always this sort of revisionism with injuries, like, Welbeck and Wilshere were earmarked for January returns for about half the season, and now March is meant to be an optimistic comeback for them, but everyone forgets when they were actually meant to come back. Same happened with Alexis, a three week injury became almost 2 months.
Coquelin’s pretty much the only player who’s come back slightly sooner than planned in years
Giroud
Why has everyone given this a thumbs down? Seems like a pretty accurate observation to me.
Maybe Penguin is dreadfully wrong. Along with myself.
We have a an outstanding cock
Very heartwarming news. No setbacks please. COYG!
Good news!!
Last time we played Leicester Theo started upfront and was pivotal in the way we played and ultimately beat them 5-2.
But considering he has been piss poor lately and Giroud has been relatively good, would any of you be willing to take a gamble on Theo? It could work wonders or bite us in the arse.
I don’t think the manager would go for it though. Thoughts?
No, I would not take a gamble on Theo up front. Keep him on the bench in case we need pace in the 70th.
my front six looks like this:
Coq-Ramsara
Ox-Oz-Alexis
Giroud
Campbell over Ox for me. Not sure it sends a good message that someone can graft and put in very solid if not spectacular performances for a couple of months yet a fan favourite scores a single goal despite playing pretty average and he walks back into the team..
And ignoring the message, Campbell has simply played better this season.
I disagree, I think Ox has shown definite signs of improvement in his last few appearances to the point where I think he should be ahead of Campbell on merit. Pretty much any player stinks when they’re low on confidence but he’s getting past that now. Plus I still think he has a much higher ceiling than Campbell. Part of what’s held him back so far in his career is that he’s had no real chance to build momentum with a run of starts either because of injuries or the bench.
Middle of a title challenge is not the time to be helping players build momentum. It’s about who’s better at the moment, and I think you’re the only person who I’ve seen suggest he’s ahead of Campbell!
Merit? Stop it, please.
I appreciate that you wrote Ramsara. I think Ramsara for Rambo too these days
Where’s Ramsara come from? I honestly don’t know what it means haha
you called it. down to the Feo sub on 70′.
brilliant.
Theo should sub Giroud with 20 mns to go
Depends on what we need at 70 minutes, really.
I think though that Theo could be a good option because their centre-backs are not short on size. Also being a counterattacking team, Leicester don’t enjoy possession. We should cede possession, and hit them on the break with Walcott drawing bodies away and Alexis and co scoring.
For me, Walcott is a very, very bad footballer with loads of speed and little brain. The bench.
We need Theo to find some form -as much as anyone else- if we’re actually gonna win this thing – the title not the match. He needs to score to build confidence and for that he needs game-time. That having been said, I’d still be reluctant to start with him, given just how poor he’s been of late. Giroud hasn’t exactly been pulling up any trees in the last few games either. So Wenger might just surprise us all and play theo and, if he scores, it might just be the boost he needs to kick start his season? Whoever… Read more »
Wow! (y) great pick. El neny is a good distributor of the ball
Whatever for Wilshere, but having Santi back would be huge.
What was his injury specifically? I thought it was an ACL, but there’s no way he’d be back this quickly. Was it an MCL?
Jeeez get a grip man. It’s football injury. They can have setbacks or be on or ahead of schedule. There is no rigid formula.
Yes, Medial. Same as Coquelin’s.
I’m not particularly a fan of anyone being so disrespectful of our players though.
God I love Santi. Out of all our injured players we’ve missed him the most. Hope it’s not too late for him to make an impact in the title run in.
It will be great to see Welbeck back. That will be a huge boost to the squad. This is actually the first time in a long time that we have much fitter squad to finish the second part of the season. I hope that will result to us winning the league.
I’ve missed Santi in my life
The squad could really use some smiles. That’s for sure.
Jack wheelchair no more!
Weeks…
3 weeks, 50 weeks…. They are both weeks.
“….so it means it is not a question of months anymore, it is a question of weeks for them to be back.”
I would imagine this meant a number (of weeks) that doesn’t amount to a month or more; say, 4 weeks or less? What do I know!
how many weeks???
between 2.13 and 7.79 weeks
How about Sanchez up top, ox and Campbell to the left and right, ozil + Ramsey + le coq in midfield?
Yes mate! I’ve said this so many times that Sanchez could be that amazing world class striker we need. Time to turn him into Henry away from the wing. But it seems a bit late now that Giroud isn’t in a bad form… But I really do think we would be stronger with that attack since Theo has been dogshit and Giroud limits us. With Cazorla back, we might just have a chance against Barca… One can dream
For me we have better defending, and ability to transition upfield wide with Alexis and Campbell on the wings. Better ability to avoid the press and keep possession when we need it too.
I may have missed something, but what happened to Elnenny? I think I dreamt January away…
I’d like to see Coq + Elneny in the center for Leicester to deal with their counterattack. Also Gabriel over Mert for the same reason. Ramsey slots back to the right as I think he is peaking.
Brilliant. Santi and mesut are electric
While Coquelin was a bad miss we had a poor version of him in Flamini, there is no Cazorla replacement in the team, effortlessly gets us out of tight positions and sets our attacks in motion. I fucking love watching him play football.
He will be a huge asset for the run in, we should have him for about 10 league games?
Welbeck, Santi and Wilshere is what I call a triple LANS!
I can’t wipe that slly Santi smile off my face…
In all fairness, Flamini hasn’t been the wreck most of us expected when Coq went off injured so the player we have been unable to adequately accommodate for his absence is Santi.
I am so chuffed to have him back. I hope he settles into his rhythm quickly.
I’d like us to line up with the same team from bournemouth with theo up front and joel instead of ox with coquelin instead of flamini. Enough pace to cope with Leicester’s pace.
Quick question if Arsenal were to win one competition this season what one would you choose?
FA cup – be the first team in the modern era to win three on the bounce
The league – best chance in years and long overdue
The champions league – never won it and would love to see Wenger add it to his CV
I gotta say it is a difficult choice but it would be the champions league for me but I would love all three
I don’t know about anyone else but I think we are going to give Leicester a goog hiding! ?
Oh even “good” ?
ohhh santiiii i realy miss you.
Optimism is great but what’s happened to the likes of Jack in recent years causes me to me cautious. So until I see the little Spaniard out there on the pitch dovetailing beautifully with our Coq, I won’t get too excited.
If we don’t best Leicester on Sunday, it wouldn’t make a difference if we had Messi back from injury!! Win or bust.
Any expert knows how long it will take for Cazorla to be as good as he was before the injury?
Two minutes, twenty-seven point six seconds.